The Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition (VBFRC) would like to announce the second round of mini-grant projects supported by our Coalition partner organizations. In 2015, the VBFRC funded seven Coalition partner projects for over $30,000. The Coalition is now disseminating $20,000 of mini-grant funds to support six additional projects for 2017.

The programs funded by these mini-grants are aimed at supporting the next generation of farmers and ranchers in Virginia by addressing: youth education; women in agriculture; building farm skills and experience; training resources for low-literacy farmers; farmland access; and micro-dairy farming. The organizations that received funding through the mini-grants are listed below. For more information on these programming opportunities, you may visit our webpage or contact the organizations directing the programs. Please feel free to share the attached announcement as you see fit. Congratulations to our Coalition partners. Thank you for the hard work you put into organizing these programming opportunities.

The Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition and this mini-grant initiative are sponsored through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) of the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Award Number: 2015-70017-22887. For more information, visit us at www.vabeginningfarmer.org. Or contact Dr. Kim Niewolny at niewolny@vt.edu; 540-231-5784.